Category Archives: US Science Agencies

What Representative Lamar Smith Is Really Trying to Do at NSF – ScienceInsider

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Britt Holbrook

Essential reading: What Representative Lamar Smith Is Really Trying to Do at NSF – ScienceInsider. The real question is whether an ‘extra layer’ of accountability is necessary. Before adding more government red tape, it would be better to ask NSF … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, NSF, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | 1 Comment

Not Safe for Funding: The N.S.F. and the Economics of Science : The New Yorker

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Britt Holbrook

Aside from the inherent interest of all things having to do with NSF merit review … what, that’s not just us CSID folks, is it? … anyway, there’s also some really interesting stuff about what motivates scientists in this article. … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Future of the University, Metrics, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy, Transformative Research, US Science Agencies | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Holdren Attacks House Bill, Defends NSF’s Grant Selection Process – ScienceInsider

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Britt Holbrook

Holdren Attacks House Bill, Defends NSF’s Grant Selection Process – ScienceInsider.

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, Future of the University, Metrics, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | Leave a comment

Subcommittee Reviews NSF’s FY 2014 Budget Request | Democrats -Committee on Science, Space and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Britt Holbrook

Links on NSF Merit Review hearing: Subcommittee Reviews NSF’s FY 2014 Budget Request | Democrats -Committee on Science, Space and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives. http://science.house.gov/press-release/subcommittee-reviews-nsf-budget-explores-ways-improve-grant-approval-process http://science.house.gov/hearing/research-subcommittee-hearing-overview-national-science-foundation-budget-fiscal-year-2014 http://science.edgeboss.net/wmedia/science/sst2013/RS041713.wvx        

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, Economics & STEM Research, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | Leave a comment

NSF Peer Review Under Scrutiny by House Science Panel – ScienceInsider

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Britt Holbrook

John Holdren to Science House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology: “I think it’s a dangerous thing for Congress, or anybody else, to be trying to specify in detail what types of fundamental research NSF should be funding.” NSF Peer … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, Future of the University, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Broader Impacts of the Fact that NASA Suspends All Education and Public Outreach Update – NASA Watch

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Britt Holbrook

Effective immediately, all education and public outreach activities should be suspended, pending further review. In terms of scope, this includes all public engagement and outreach events, programs, activities, and products developed and implemented by Headquarters, Mission Directorates, and Centers across … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, Economics & STEM Research, Metrics, NASA, NSF, Public Pedagogy, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Institutions starting to walk the Broader Impacts walk

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Kelli Barr

CSID’s own Robert Frodeman is slated to keynote an upcoming Broader Impacts Infrastructure Summit. This summit marks the first of its kind for its focus on institutional infrastructure, primarily at universities and colleges, to support faculty and staff in coordinating, … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, Conferences Upcoming, NSF, STEM Policy | 1 Comment

Is NSF’s ‘Product’ Category a Finished Product? – Science Careers

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Britt Holbrook

Science Careers weighs in on NSF’s recent changes to the Grant Proposal Guide: Is NSF’s ‘Product’ Category a Finished Product? – Science Careers – Biotech, Pharmaceutical, Faculty, Postdoc jobs on Science Careers. Interesting take on what counts as a ‘product’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Broader Impacts, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy, Transformative Research, US Science Agencies | Leave a comment

Don’t Underestimate NSF’s New Grant-Submission Rules – Manage Your Career – The Chronicle of Higher Education

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Britt Holbrook

I left a comment* about one point I take issue with; but this is a good article, with lots of good advice. Don’t Underestimate NSF’s New Grant-Submission Rules – Manage Your Career – The Chronicle of Higher Education. * Just … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy | Leave a comment

Value all Research Products « Research Remix

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Britt Holbrook

Heather Piwowar (aka @ResearchRemix) has just published a pre-print version of her recently published Nature article on NSF’s new bio-sketch requirements. First draft of just-published Value all Research Products « Research Remix. This version is as interesting from the meta-standpoint … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Future of the University, Metrics, NSF, Open Access, STEM Policy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Mozilla and the National Science Foundation launch open innovation challenge | The Mozilla Blog

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Britt Holbrook

Wow! Interesting: Mozilla and the National Science Foundation launch open innovation challenge | The Mozilla Blog.

Posted in NSF, Science and technology ramifications, Transformative Research, US Science Agencies | Leave a comment

Attack on science, or a wakeup call? FY 2013 NSF Political Science Research Funding Eliminated by House

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Britt Holbrook

FY 2013 NSF Political Science Research Funding Eliminated by House. How should political scientists respond to such an apparent attack from Congress? Let me present two options: (a) the typical appeal to the fact that these grants all went through … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Open Access Petition — Opening Access to Research or Courting Disaster? UPDATED

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Britt Holbrook

Here is the text of the petition: WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO: Require free access over the Internet to scientific journal articles arising from taxpayer-funded research. We believe in the power of the Internet to foster innovation, research, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, Future of the University, institutionalizing interdisciplinarity, Libraries, Metrics, Open Access, Science and technology ramifications, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | 8 Comments

Times Higher Education – Inside Higher Ed: Playing Politics With Poli Sci

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Britt Holbrook

Why are politicians targeting polictical science funding at NSF? “These studies might satisfy the curiosities of a few academics, but I seriously doubt society will benefit from them.” via Times Higher Education – Inside Higher Ed: Playing Politics With Poli … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, NSF | Leave a comment

Good Transformations — Science Progress

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Britt Holbrook

Bob Frodeman, Kelli Barr, and I combined forces to present this first take on the recent Workshop on Transformative Research we ran at National Science Foundation headquarters in Arlington, VA. This was a good workshop involving some really good — … Continue reading →

Posted in CSID Publications, NSF, STEM Policy, Transformative Research, US Science Agencies | Leave a comment

Resistance to impact criteria can lead to a tightening of the accountability noose. | Impact of Social Sciences

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Britt Holbrook

Bob Frodeman and I venture virtually across the pond for a visit to the folks at the LSE Impact of Social Sciences Impact Blog — one of my favorites. Resistance to impact criteria can lead to a tightening of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, CSID Publications, Metrics, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | Leave a comment

NSF: Oceans Acidifying Faster Today Than in Past 300 Million Years

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Alexander Mosiak

The oceans may be acidifying faster today than they did in the last 300 million years, according to scientists publishing a paper this week in the journal Science. “What we’re doing today really stands out in the geologic record,” says lead … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Degrowth Economics, Environmental policy, NSF, Sustainability, Risk Management, & Long-Term Security | Leave a comment

Legislator Berates NSF for Rising Gas Prices – ScienceInsider

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Britt Holbrook

Thanks to @Ananyo on Twitter for pointing out Jeffrey Mervis’s report on last week’s hearing on NSF’s 2013 budget request: Legislator Berates NSF for Rising Gas Prices – ScienceInsider. Mervis draws our attention to a question from Representative Andy Harris … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, Economics & STEM Research, Metrics, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | Leave a comment

Federal Research Public Access Act

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Britt Holbrook

The Alliance for Taxpayer Access has status updates on a new bill before Congress that would create an Open Access Policy for all federally funded research publications. Federal Research Public Access Act Alliance for Taxpayer Access. Here’s a link to … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Open Access, US Science Agencies | Leave a comment

Now available via open access: Peer review and the ex ante assessment of societal impacts

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Britt Holbrook

Our latest publication coming out of the Comparative Assessment of Peer Review project is now available for free! Please take a look and give us some feedback. Peer review and the ex ante assessment of societal impacts.

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, CSID Publications, NSF, Open Access, Peer Review, US Science Agencies | Leave a comment

NOAA’s proposed move raises questions about its role

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Alexander Mosiak

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a slogan that captures its odd position in the federal hierarchy: “NOAA may be the most important agency you’ve never heard of.” That contradiction was on full display earlier this month, when President … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Basic News, NOAA, Sustainability, Risk Management, & Long-Term Security | Leave a comment

Assessing the Value of Team Science: A Study Comparing Center-and Investigator Initiated Grants – Team Science Toolkit

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Britt Holbrook

The [initial] lag in productivity among the transdisciplinary center grants was offset by their overall higher publication rates and average number of coauthors per publication, relative to investigator-initiated grants, over the 10-year comparison period. The fındings suggest that transdisciplinary center … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, NIH, US Science Agencies | Leave a comment

NSB report on merit review “lacks teeth” with regard to enforcing Broader Impacts Criterion

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Britt Holbrook

At least according to a quote from Luis Echegoyen included here: Clarifying Review Criteria | January 16, 2012 Issue – Vol. 90 Issue 3 | Chemical & Engineering News.

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, NSF, Peer Review, US Science Agencies | Leave a comment

Scientists Ought to Take an Entrepreneurial Attitude toward Broader Impacts

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Britt Holbrook

Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled. This is the definition of entrepreneurship the article linked below discusses as the best ever. I agree that it’s excellent as definitions go. Let me suggest that adopting … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | 1 Comment

NSF “clarifies” Broader Impacts « Gas station without pumps

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Britt Holbrook

After reading the report (the body, not the hundreds of pages of appendices), I’m at least as confused as I was before about what the h*** NSF expects for Broader Impacts. (Gas station without pumps, hereafter GSWOP) What is revealed … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | 1 Comment